Dictionary users in the digital revolution

Robert Lew, Gilles-Maurice de Schryver
(2014) INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEXICOGRAPHY

This contribution examines the digital revolution in lexicography from the perspective of the dictionary user. We begin with an observation that in the information age the status of the dictionary ...
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEXICOGRAPHY INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEXICOGRAPHY. 2014. 27 (4) p.341-359 27:4<341

Summary:

This contribution examines the digital revolution in lexicography from the perspective of the dictionary user. We begin with an observation that in the information age the status of the dictionary is changing, and so are patterns of user behaviour, with general internet search engines encroaching on the grounds traditionally reserved for lexicographic queries. Clearly, we need to know more about user behaviour in the digital environment, and for this we need to harness user research, to find out how the increasingly flexible and adaptive lexical reference tools of the future need to behave to best accommodate user needs. We summarize the existing findings and show in what ways digital dictionaries are already able to serve users better than their paper predecessors. The challenge to produce efficient and effective dictionaries is best seen in the context of dictionary users’ reference skills, which now tend to overlap with digital literacy. We conclude with a possible vision of the future.

Lew, Robert, and Gilles-Maurice de Schryver. 2014. “Dictionary Users in the Digital Revolution.” International Journal of Lexicography 27 (4): 341–359.

Vancouver:

1.

Lew R, de Schryver G-M. Dictionary users in the digital revolution. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEXICOGRAPHY. 2014;27(4):341–59.

RIS:

TY - JOUR
UR - http://lib.ugent.be/catalog/pug01:5704425
ID - pug01:5704425
LA - eng
TI - Dictionary users in the digital revolution
PY - 2014
JO - (2014) INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEXICOGRAPHY
SN - 0950-3846
PB - 2014
AU - Lew, Robert
AU - de Schryver, Gilles-Maurice LW21 001989114029 801001464959 0000-0001-7272-9878
AB - This contribution examines the digital revolution in lexicography from the perspective of the dictionary user. We begin with an observation that in the information age the status of the dictionary is changing, and so are patterns of user behaviour, with general internet search engines encroaching on the grounds traditionally reserved for lexicographic queries. Clearly, we need to know more about user behaviour in the digital environment, and for this we need to harness user research, to find out how the increasingly flexible and adaptive lexical reference tools of the future need to behave to best accommodate user needs. We summarize the existing findings and show in what ways digital dictionaries are already able to serve users better than their paper predecessors. The challenge to produce efficient and effective dictionaries is best seen in the context of dictionary users’ reference skills, which now tend to overlap with digital literacy. We conclude with a possible vision of the future.
ER -

aThis contribution examines the digital revolution in lexicography from the perspective of the dictionary user. We begin with an observation that in the information age the status of the dictionary is changing, and so are patterns of user behaviour, with general internet search engines encroaching on the grounds traditionally reserved for lexicographic queries. Clearly, we need to know more about user behaviour in the digital environment, and for this we need to harness user research, to find out how the increasingly flexible and adaptive lexical reference tools of the future need to behave to best accommodate user needs. We summarize the existing findings and show in what ways digital dictionaries are already able to serve users better than their paper predecessors. The challenge to produce efficient and effective dictionaries is best seen in the context of dictionary users’ reference skills, which now tend to overlap with digital literacy. We conclude with a possible vision of the future.

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